On Friday, June 8, the department was called out at about 9 p.m. and fought a fire until around 3 a.m., RPVFD Chief Harry Mosby reported. The fire was started by a downed power line behind the Kersnowski residence on Old Victory Highway.
Paul Kersnowski told the Lovelock Review-Miner that he was experiencing a brown out at his home and went outside to investigate when he saw a "line of fire behind the house." He immediately called the fire in and RPVFD was on the scene within minutes, Kersnowski said.
Being a former NDF officer, Kersnowski said he knows how tough it is to fight fire.
"Rye Patch Fire Department was Johnny-on-the-spot. It was amazing how fast they got here. Their chief should be commended for having such a professional crew," Kersnowski said.
Kersnowski also commended BLM fire Capt. Cory Bowser for his team's quick response.
"Between them (BLM) and Rye Patch it was out pretty fast," Kersnowski said.
Kersnowski's wife Connie said that the area was without power overnight and that she watched the power company replace, she believed, four power poles the next day.
"We are really lucky they got it out so fast," Connie Kersnowski said.
Mosby said the fire burned approximately 20 acres.
One Sunday, June 10, Rye Patch was dispatched to the Oreana Fire at 9:30 p.m. The fire was burning in the Rochester Canyon area. RPVFD crews fought successfully to keep flames away from the historic town of old Rochester in Rochester Canyon.
"We were really glad when BLM showed up," Mosby said.
"It was a tough fire in rugged terrain," he added.
Mosby said that BLM responded quickly to the scene and released the volunteer team around 1 a.m.
The cause of that fire was unknown as of press time.
The Rye Patch department was called out to another fire around 3 p.m. on Monday, June 11. This fire started on the opposite side of Old Victory Highway from the Rocky Canyon housing subdivision in the Rye Patch area. In addition to the Rye Patch crew, Lovelock Volunteer Fire Department, NDF and BLM backed the fire away from the subdivision.
The fire burned approximately 270 acres and was contained around 8 p.m. It appeared to be human caused, Mosby said.
No structures were lost in any of the fires.
"We've battled quite a few little fires but we haven't had this many big fires in a long time. I am very proud of my crew," a tired Mosby said Monday evening.
He cautioned people to stay out of the grass and bushes when recreating.
"It is extremely dry; keep your vehicles on the roads. All it takes is a spark from two rocks kicked up by someone's vehicle to start a fire," he said.
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